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Active commuting between home and place of work or study is often cited as an interestingsource of physical activity in a public health perspective. However, knowledge about these behaviorsis meager. This was therefore studied in adult active commuters (n = 1872) in Greater Stockholm,Sweden, a Nordic metropolitan setting. They received questionnaires and individually adjustedmaps to draw their normal commuting route. Three different modality groups were identified in menand women: single-mode cyclists and pedestrians (those who only cycle or walk, respectively) anddual-mode commuters (those who alternately walk or cycle). Some gender differences were observedin trip distances, frequencies, and velocities. A large majority of the commuting trip durations met theminimum health recommendation of at least 10-minute-long activity bouts. The median single-modepedestrians and dual-mode commuters met or were close to the recommended weekly physicalactivity levels of at least 150 minutes most of the year, whereas the single-mode cyclists did so onlyduring spring–mid-fall. A high total number of trips per year (range of medians: 230–390) adds tothe value in a health perspective. To fully grasp active commuting behaviors in future studies, bothwalking and cycling should be assessed over different seasons and ideally over the whole year.

A fascinating chain of events led in 1941 to the formation of the Department of Physiology at the Royal Gymnastic Central Institute (GCI) in Stockholm, Sweden. Erik Hohwü Christensen, from the scientifically advanced Lindhard School in Copenhagen, became its first professor. A central research question for him concerned determining the limiting factors for maximal physical performance in man. This was the academic setting where the sports interested medical student Bengt Saltin was introduced to exercise physiology. In the summer of 1959 he became involved in a study on intermittent versus continuous running. A doctoral project, with Per-Olof Åstrand as his tutor, resulted in 1964 as the thesis ‘Aerobic work capacity and circulation at exercise in man. With special reference to the effect of prolonged exercise and/or heat exposure’. In the decade that followed, Saltin continued along that path. However, he also added a vital research line involving pioneering studies on skeletal muscles in the exercising man, a series of novel studies on the physiological demands in various sports, and studies of the effects of physical training within the general population.

Nekrolog över Per-Olof Åstrand Professor emeritus Per-Olof Åstrand har avlidit i en ålder av 92 år. Hans närmaste anhöriga är makan Irma och barnen Elin och Per med familjer. Per-Olof Åstrand föddes i Bredaryd i Småland den 21 oktober 1922, och avled den 2 januari 2015 i Näsby Park norr om Stockholm. Efter värnplikt och beredskapstjänstgöring i pansartrupperna under andra världskriget kom han 1944 till Kungl. Gymnastiska Centralinstitutet (GCI/GIH) för studier till gymnastiklärare. Vid sluttentamen i fysiologi var hans svar så avancerade att den ansvarige läraren bad professorn, Erik Hohwü Christensen, att rätta dem. Kort därefter fick GCI:s fysiologiska institution en ny amanuens. Efter gymnastikdirektörsexamen 1946 följde läkarstudier, och parallellt med dessa inleddes avhandlingsarbetet ”Experimental studies of physical working capacity in relation to sex and age”, som försvarades 1952. Genom detta utvecklades en metodik för att mäta maximal syreupptagning. Det blev en avgörande variabel att relatera till i hans senare forskning om den cirkulatoriska och respiratoriska anpassningen till fysiskt arbete och träning. Det submaximala konditionstest som P.-O., och hans blivande hustru Irma Ryhming, publicerade år 1954 bidrog till att göra GCI känt över världen. Det finns fog att benämna honom som ”den vetenskapligt baserade konditionsträningens fader”. 1970 blev han professor i kroppsövningarnas fysiologi vid GIH. P.-O. visade tidigt ett stort intresse för undervisning, och många mötte honom i populärvetenskapliga skrifter såsom ”Kondition och hälsa” och ”Bättre kondition”, men det var genom den omfattande läroboken ”Textbook of Work Physiology: Physiological Bases for Exercise”, skriven tillsammans med Kaare Rodahl, som han blev det riktigt stora namnet inom internationell arbetsfysiologi. Där framträdde holisten Åstrand med en bredd och ett djup som ingen förr hade fångat och skrivit fram. Denna bok, P.-O:s pedagogiska förmåga och engagemang har haft avgörande bety

The association between physical activity (PA) and variables of the perceived environment mainly originate from cross-sectional studies that introduced the idea that the environment influences the PA level of residents. However, the direction of cause and effect has not been solved with finality. The aim of this study was to investigate whether residents’ perception of their proximate environment differs depending on their level of PA in transport and recreation. We conducted a cross-sectional survey with residents of six different parts of thecity of Cologne, Germany. The sample of 470 adults (52.8% females; mean age =35.5 ± 13.8 years) filled in the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ),as well as the European Environmental Questionnaire ALPHA. To distinguishbetween residents with ‘low’ and ‘high’ PA, we split the samples into two on the basis of the specific median in transport- and recreation-related PA. In the ‘high’ vs. ‘low’ PA group of the overall sample, we noted 4–16% more ‘PA favourable’ environmental perceptions in seven of the 15 environmental variables. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to investigate associations of socio-demographic correlates and transport- and recreation-related PA on the dependent variables of the environmental perception. In this case,levels of PA were significant predictors for eight of the 15 items concerning environmental perceptions. Thus, the present study introduces the idea that residents with higher levels of transport and recreational PA may perceive their environment in a more ‘PA-favourable’ way than residents with lower levels.

Background and Aim: Commuting by bicycle could contribute to public health, and route environments may influence this behaviour. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess the potential associations between appraisals of the overall route environment as hindering or stimulating for bicycle commuting, with both perceptions of commuting route environmental factors in a suburban area and background factors. Methods: The Active Commuting Route Environment Scale (ACRES) was used for the assessment of bicycle commuters’ perceptions and appraisals of their route environments in the suburban parts of Greater Stockholm, Sweden. A simultaneous multiple regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between the outcome variable whether the overall route environment hinders or stimulates bicycle commuting and environmental factors (e.g., exhaust fumes, speeds of motor vehicles, greenery), as well as background factors (sex, age, education, income) as predictor variables. Results and Conclusions: The results indicate that in suburban areas, the factors aesthetics, greenery and bicycle paths seem to be, independently of each other, stimulating factors for bicycle commuting. On the other hand, flows of motor vehicles, noise, and low “directness” of the route seem to be hindering factors. A comparison of these results with those obtained from an inner urban area points to the importance of studying different types of built-up areas separately.

Svenska Dagbladet den 9 juli 2014

Bengt Saltin Professor Bengt Saltin, Stockholm, har avlidit i en ålder av 79 år. Hans närmast sörjande är Ann-Sofi Colling-Saltin med barnen Ola, Åsa, och Anna med familjer. Bengt Saltin föddes i Ålsten den 3 juni 1935. Han växte upp med modern Margareta och sin sociale far, Sven Saltin, som båda var folkskolelärare. Under läroverkstiden i Södertälje fångade stadens apotekare upp vinnaren vid en terränglöpning och bjöd in honom till en orienteringskurs. Ett livslångt intresse skapades. De bästa ämnena i skolan, svenska språket och svensk litteratur, representerade ett annan viktig ådra. Men det skogliga lockade mest; han ville bli jägmästare. Modern sa dock nej; ”Du ska bli läkare!” Så blev det. Under studier vid Karolinska Institutet rekryterade fysiologen Ulf von Euler honom som amanuens. Bengt nämnde sitt intresse för idrott, varvid han introducerades för professor Erik Hohwü Christensen vid Kungl. Gymnastiska Centralinstitutet. Sommaren 1959 inleddes skolningen till arbetsfysiolog. Det första arbetet handlade om det intermittenta arbetets fysiologi, publicerades 1960, och bidrog till intervallträningens utveckling. Det blev tidigt uppenbart att Bengt hade en ovanlig talang för forskning. Efter en centralcirkulatorisk avhandling 1964, med Hohwü Christensen och Per-Olof Åstrand som handledare, visade han även prov på stor självständighet genom att utveckla en ny forskningslinje om skelettmuskulaturen. Den blev snart världsledande. Från 1973 fortsatte Bengt sin bana som professor vid Köpenhamns universitet. Med ett kort undantag vid Karolinska Institutet, förblev Köpenhamn basen för hans gärning. De sista knappa 20 åren ledde han Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre, vars forskning redan är inskriven i vetenskapshistoriska läroböcker. Bengt hade en enorm arbetskapacitet, publicerade mer än 440 arbeten, och handledde drygt 40-50 doktorander. Han blev ledamot av Danmarks Kungliga Vetenskapsakademi, hedersdoktor vid tolv universitet, och fick Internationella Olympiska

Health was introduced as part of physical education (PE) in Sweden in 1994, but the transformational processes for integrating the health dimension has been very slow. At the same time, scientific development within the field of physical activity and health has been strong during the past two decades. This development opens up for a wide array of developmental pathways. At GIH in Stockholm, Sweden, we have chosen to develop a theme of walking, health and environment as a pedagogic bottom line in the Physical Education and Health Teachers Education (PETE). In concrete terms we develop the students´ understanding of: (I) walking and energy consumption, and how it relates to health, (II) their own walking behaviors over a full normal day, and how it can be modified to meet minimal and optimal PA levels, and (III) how their own neighborhood environment may support a walking behavior or not. At later stages of the PETE, we integrate these dimensions into a framework of PA, public health and sustainable development. The rationale for the latter perspective is that the contexts of bodily movement can affect the environment both positively and negatively, and are thereby closely linked to both individual and public health. The transformational process described is in a relatively early state, and clearly future developmental steps are needed. The evaluations of these parts of PETE points, however, to that the PE students view the described pedagogical ingredients as a comprehensible, manageable and meaningful component in their studies, and anticipate that it has the same potential in their future work in schools.

Background: Sedentary behaviour in general and sitting time in particular is an emerging global health concern. The aim of this study was to provide data on the prevalence of sitting time in German adults and to examine socio-demographic and environmental correlates of sitting time. Methods. A representative sample of German adults (n = 2000; 967 men, 1033 women; 49.3 ±17.6 years of age) filled in the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire, including one question on overall sitting time and answered questions about the neighbourhood environment, as well as concerning demographics. Daily sitting time was stratified by gender, age group, BMI, educational and income level, as well as physical activity (PA). To identify socio-demographic and environmental correlates of sitting time, we used a series of linear regressions. Results: The overall median was 5 hours (299 minutes) of sitting time/day and men sat longer than women (5 vs. 4 hours/day; p < 0.05). In both genders age and PA were negatively and the educational level positively associated with sitting time. The level of income was not a correlate of sitting time in multivariate analyses. Sitting time was significantly positively associated with higher neighbourhood safety for women. The variance of the multivariate model ranged from 16.5% for men to 8.9% for women. Conclusions: The overall sitting time was unequally distributed in the German adult population. Our findings suggest implementing specific interventions to reduce sitting time for subgroups such as men, younger aged adults and adults with a higher education and lower PA. Future studies should enhance our understanding of the specific correlates of different types and domains of sitting in order to guide the development of effective public health strategies., doi 10.1186/1471-2458-13-196